App stores, antitrust and their links to net neutrality: A review of the European policy and academic debate leading to the EU Digital Markets Act

Abstract

Google and Apple’s smartphone and tablet ‘app’ stores are facing significant antitrust scrutiny in Europe, culminating in enforcement action by the European Commission and specific obligations in the new EU Digital Markets Act. In a field previously dominated by US law and jurisprudence, we review the main European antitrust-related evidence and policy arguments for and against such app store regulation. We further show how this discourse is linked to the heavily-contested policy area of network neutrality.